WHAT AND WHY

 

CURIOSITY

some curves

so pleasing 

may cause accidents

on a road

or

in a car 

when one feels young

and 

traveling

through and through

aware 

but

not knowing 

what it means

to 

navigate

desires

and 

distances

ahmet cafer celebiler

September 23, 2025

MOST OF MY FRIENDS WERE HUMAN

 

MOST OF MY FRIENDS COULD NOT SING

(AT FUNERALS OR ELSEWHERE)

they are still my friends

living 

or not

fictional

or documented 

or remembered

as factual

i doubt that they saw a light

or many lights

when alive

or when they went away

in my case 

it was dark

a darkness unvisible

untouchable

not to be sensed

and

not to be considered

without relevance

or meaning

as

forgettable

as 

any relic

of thought

or

of substance

ahmet cafer celebiler

September14, 2025

HUMAN AFFAIRS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

 DEMOCRACY, MONARCHY, THEOCRACY, DICTATORSHIP , VIOLENCE FOR HUMANITY

Using acts of violence to silence viewpoints is quite common in democracies as well as other systems of government. In democracies the perpetrators are not openly linked to the bureaucracy or the government. Sometimes they are called, “the deep state”, sometimes “concerned citizens” or “true believers” or “foreign agents” or “unidentified terrorists” The result is the same: suffering, unless the ruling elite makes the mistake of upsetting a large proportion of the population or if the material benefits of the vilolence is not distributed to the group who expected or were promised returns. What happens next depends on the culture. Authoritarian cultures which teach subservience, class differences, and have religions which continue to disregard human rights may change one type of dictator to another or just sit and hope and pray for better times. The obsequious majority may only try to cheat and steal and expect servility from any others they consider their inferiors. Their justifications are based on myths, fairy tales, divine texts and most written laws.

otherchelebi

September 13, 2025

DID OUROBOROS FOLLOW JÖRMUNGANDR?

 

BITING TAILS

tail biting 

does not sustain

unless 

the tail

belongs to 

an enemy

or opponent

in which case

it behooves one

to find a plump

longish

hairless one

prepared sous vide

or

grilled on charcoal

with fresh herbs

and spices

after making sure that

it does not belong to yourself

and to family

and friends

and

definitely not

someone of authority

over

the use of your tail

ahmet cafer celebiler 

September 13. 2025

VISITING DEITIES

 

GODDESSES I KNEW

ishtar was the first

and

ever present one

appearing as inanna 

on occasion

traveling east

to appear

to others

in guise

as wangmu niangniang

and amaterasu

not as Kamadenu

who appeared

to meditating 

believers 

and cows

Men find them 

mysterious

if they find them at all

to recognize

for who they are

i researched, studied, 

rationalized

tried looking from corners of my eyes

and through lenses

of many sizes

and lengths 

and materials

the actual

the real

and the fantasy

not so different

when you try to touch

and feel

and 

then

lose touch

even with 

disappearing memories

self destroying  experiences

vestiges of divinity enjoyed

all too briefly

ahmet cafer celebiler

September 12, 2025

WHEN WORDS ARE MORE OR LESS THAN WORDS

 

WORDS ABOVE AND BELOW THE GROUND

not all words live

only a few

breathe

sleep 

mean more or less

depends on the town crier

one of two hundred 

or so

in 

the united kingdom

or 

the memories

of

umalohokans

in 

the philippines

hear ye

the strong voices

traveling

with their words

clear

direct

with no wit

or games

oyez

the sanctimonious

the man

chief

priest

or

captain

possibly

the spouse

but not yours

no, not at all

only a dream

whisked away

ahmet cafer celebiler

September 10, 2025

A DIARY POUR OUBLIER

 

TO BE EXPUNGED IF NOT OBLITERATED

waking up

not waking

and not up

checking

breath

heart beat

noises from other rooms

familiar

may be good

cat's presence almost obvious

though 

toes are not under attack

take mask off

one relief achieved

need to leave bed

and

walk to next relief

calculate urgency

wake

still not up

urgency is more urgent

swinging feet down

not so easy

must roll body 

disregard upper left arm muscle pain

remember position of cane

slow walk

28 steps to sit

no need for a sigh

plan new moves

to wash

to clean

to call for choice of breakfast

eggs

how many

with salad 

or cheese

blue, i think i should choose

tea

apple cider vinegar first

arrange pills

by size and colour

tea already tepid

look for newspaper

search glasses

prioritize

sports, politics, murders

singular or  en masse

visualize art and authors

silently vocalize concerts

wake up

consider options

PC or bed 

choice of relief

check the ferry boats

wonder who rides them 

and who missed them

for another few minutes

of

bed

or relief

as always

ahmet cafer celebiler

September 2, 2025

DANGERS OF NEED ACHIEVEMENT

 

PUNISHMENT OF ACHIEVEMENT

not everyone

can

or should

escape mediocrity

just lay back

and feel the breeze

on your face

and 

let it carry your words

away

as far away

as possible

The only incentive in any political idological system depends on the recognition of loopholes and the ability to utilize them for furthering one’s power and/or wealth. However, one needs to stay in the background and not flaunt any achievements, if possible, frequently discarding aces and kings with a vacant, shamed face.

As far as my almost eighty years of experience tells, there is no system that rewards intelligence, ability and hard work after a certain point in a political, academic, legal or business hierarchy. In fact, it becomes a requirement that you have to use your intelligence, ability, hard work and expertise to hang on to what you have achieved instead of attempting for new achievements.

This is true in communism, capitalism, theocracy, idiocracy, tribalism and even home economics.

too many 

chiefs

and

spouses

made the mistake

to never be heard again

in great edifices

or tiny igloos

ahmet cafer celebiler

August 29, 2025

FAMILIES COMMUNITIES TRIBES

 

GROUPS CLASSES GATHERINGS

social sciences 

all imagined

pictured

sent 

to 

soft matter

covered by layer upon layer

of other matter

and bones 

and 

multiple networks

also 

hair

to protect

surfaces

despite

endangered holes

and ramparts 

breachable

and

contents

not esoteric

just

a receptacle

for

 data 

trickled through sieves 

nets

slabs

atmospheric oddities

stirred

shuffled

by events

feelings 

and thoughts

alien

to the species

sporadic

mistaken

misshaped

and

wishing

they were surreal

super beings

with no evidence

or rationale

to leave 

accompanying

fireflies

and weevils

and

dust

and sand

and

stars

so 

far away

yet close

ahmet cafer celebiler

August 25, 2025

MY FIRST BATTLESHIP

 

USS MISSOURI (BB-63) arrived in Istanbul 5-9 April, 1946

Gunboat Diplomacy: Turkey, USA and the Advent of the Cold War 

This visit was not to welcome me to the world. It was almost two years after my arrival. 

But, it was the beginning of political and military activity which dominated the first  thirty years of my educational and social life. 

ahmet celebiler

August 24, 2025

TYPHOONS HURRICANES AND TUFANS (TAI FUNG)

 

FOLLOW THE REVERSED HIEROPHANT

odes 

written

to the

west wind

and stories

of

the bona fide

and all other

tufans

whirl

in

succession

and

unapprehended aspiration

carrying furies

to torment

a prometheus

ancient and modern

and others

bound by visible

and unvisible

life lines 

to rocks

and to each other

some

under jupiters throne

others 

trodden 

under his feet

and

other appendages

twisted 

with whirlwinds

arthritic

sent to bind humanity

to rocks 

to beliefs

to authority

the demigorgon

paying  a long

uninterrupted

visit

to the surface

since the advent of the primordial black hole

ahmet cafer celebiler

August 17, 2025

references :  "Prometheus Unbound" , "Ode to the West Wind

AN ADMISSION

 

GUILTY UNTIL A MAJORITY OF READERS FIND ME INNOCENT

i have been plagiarizing from my other blog, "www.otherchelebistravels.blogspot.com", but founf out that access has been denied to it, for some reason. yet other international readers have been accessing it.

In any case, some of these trips are also on my Fodor's trip reports which my children and grandchildren would never find interesting because reading and those subjects are not popular in their world.

I hope that you find this occasional divergence from my regular topics fun and/or esoteric. And if you do or do not, please let me know so I can believe that you are not an AI active in all those countries.

Ahmet celebiler

otherchelebi

August 8, 2025

PEDANTIC ADVICE

 

NO SAGE OR GURU

BUT BITING TONGUE

AND WRITING HAND

WHILE THROWING KERNELS

TO THE HUNGRY

What does it really mean to know ourselves, and how can we actually do it?

It means that you have spent time thinking of your ambitions, capabilities, quirks of character and all and more similar stuff like these for yourself andall people you interact with including fictional characters, family, friends, politicians, the rich and the famous and the poor and destitute.

You also consider other creatures as lives worthy of evaluation, and nature and art and beauty, wit and quirkiness you can discover as worthy of more thought and feeling.

The above , and more will give you a multitude of view points. You do not pick a single one or just a few as your very own. Accept them all as part of your life and that of all else, recognize them without making value judgements.

Pick some or most to use to write to talk, to utilize in your relationships, careers, hobbies, without ignoring, detesting, fighting, ridiculing any others.

If you have passed this on before you die, you should have a happy, satisfied departure from life.

ahmet cafer celebiler

August 8, 2025

SOME MORE UNFINISHED BUSINESS

 

BLACK SEA TRIP CONTINUED 2

Western black Sea Part II Pinarbasi

A full stomach and the use of the facilities after a few compulsory/complementary cups of tea, prepared us for the short drive towards Pinarbasi, where we had reserved by phone, after discovering a quaint village mansion on the net for 30TL each B&B.

Ulus small town was a nice surprise. I guess all the places we visit are nice surprises, but this time we hit the market day. We took photos of women walking one way with empty bags, but forgot to photograph others coming back with full ones. Trying to park the car, we discovered a very nice modern building and found out that it was the public library. Went in, introduced ourselves to the director and his wife, both with degrees in librarianship, chatted for half hour or so, met the kindergarten and elementary school kids using the reading rooms, and were disappointed that there were no youth or adults.

The roads so far and from Ulus to Pinarbasi were fine. Eser’s carpal tunnel and tennis elbow which she has nurtured since we started driving in the countryside from clutching the armrests and door handles of the car with fear did not get a boost. Neither was she given a chance to fall asleep because of the curves.

We knew we were either in or skirting the Kure National Park. She wanted to take some side roads towards a few hills which I refused to call mountains. I argued that the hills were too insignificant to belong in a Nature Park. And, I was the driver at the time.

Came to Pinarbasi, another nice small town, parked in the town square to find a spare charger for my mobile phone which Eser had forgotten to pack J. And we met the Mayor’s cousin who sort of half ran, half rolled towards us, asking if he could help and telling us that he had a barbers shop if we needed a hair cut. He took us to a shop which he said would have the charger for sure. Fortunately the shopkeeper could give us directions for the only other shop of the type at the other end of the square.

However, the mayor’s cousin was good for a topic of conversation on later days, when we wanted to get away from stronger feelings between husband and wife. He also gave us the correct directions to Pasa Konagi, our B&B, “Straight down that road for 300 meters).


This is where I paste my Pasa Konagi Review:

Pasa Konagi is a quaint 100-200 year old wooden village mansion renovated to operate as an eight room hotel, in the small town of Pinarbasi, in Kastamonu province. The rooms are upstairs, around a large central space which can be used for meetings. Downstairs, there is again a large central room and also large kitchen and dining room. As in traditional Anatolian homes, you have to remove your shoes before you can go up to the second floor. (And as in traditional Anatolian living, we left our shoes there and always found them as they were, in the morning, possibly because ours were the worst looking ones.)

There is a nice garden on the back with a small waterfall on its borders, and picnic seating and children’s playground.. I believe that they serve the breakfast outside when weather permits. When we were there in April, we had to keep the wood-burning stove going in our bedroom all night long. It was fun in a way, but either because of inexperience, or because it’s the way of these stoves, every time I added logs, it would get very hot, I would take most of my clothes off, my wife would look at me suspiciously, and after an hour, I would wake up feeling cold and put some clothes on. At that stage, my wife would also wake up, look at me in a different way and curl up under double blankets, with another sigh. A further hour down, the freeze would start setting, and I would have to get up to rekindle the stove and put more logs in, and my wife would wake up again and seeing me with the logs, start eyeing the door. (She never told me what went on in her mind that night. I think we will go back again just so that I can find out.)

The price was 30TL per person including a sumptuous breakfast. Ahmet Bey, the manager, was also the cook, and would give us dinner alternatives and prepare what was requested.
The salad, the rice, and the Turkish pot dishes would be in bowls and pots and you would go and get as much as you liked, and he would toast bread and barbecue sucuk (Turkish pepperoni like spicy sausages), etc.

The major sights of Ilica waterfalls/Horla Canyon, the Valla Canyon and the three caves are not very close. So it is possible that he would prepare a picnic lunch for those who requested it.

Another quaint feature of the rooms is that the bathroom and tiny showers are in closets. (Maybe that is why the acronym WC was coined.). As if that was not enough, in some of the rooms, the only way you can access the facilities is by climbing a divan and stepping down again after opening the small door. Unfortunately the shower has no curtain and is in a tight space together with the toilet or the sink.

In spite of the stove and the bathroom facilities we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. We made friends with the large extended family (who almost thought that this was the family long house) and a young couple.
. The young husband was a psychiatrist and tried to prescribe certain medicines to me and to my wife, after I mistakenly mentioned the troubled sleep of the previous night.

NOT DUE TO SENILITY BUT TO COMPLETE SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS

 

BLACK SEA TRIP CONTINUED 1

The kid on the slide is my wife Eser. She has the ability to be any age at any time she wishes, thus making her the perfect team member on travels for sharing everything you see, experience and feel.

The location is 'Saklibahce Restaurant' about 15 kilometers out of Bartin, on the way to Ulus and Kastamonu. One of the best kebaps we had anywhere.



Below:


This shop window in Bartin gave us the idea of finding similar shops at all the small towns we visited on this trip to compose a portfolio to send to our daughter in Chicago, for her upcoming wedding in Fall 2009.

 Knowing us well, she was not upset when she discovered what we were doing, although she had some difficulty explaining to her fiancee, why we were doing this, and why it was funny. Now that he knows us better, he laughs also at jokes like this. Whether he actually appreciates them is another point.

 

CRITICISMS ARE BLATANT ACCUSATIONS

 

    J'ACCUSE

it is instinctual

to find fault

to find inadequate

and 

to deny

to find an excuse

or three

for powerless 

children

students

employees

citizens

spouses

immigrants

legal or not

political

contractual

even nuptial

servants 

all slaves 

voluntary

and involuntary

the powerless 

real 

and misperceived

have a personal lawyer

sitting on one shoulder

whispering

never admit

never accept  blame

or  criticism

no matter the subject

or object

and

lo

a new thesaurus

becomes available

of endless excuses

rational or irrational

related or disparate

till the critic bows

in shame and defeat

of sorts

to avoid a kerfuffle

time lines change

history becomes confusion

memory fragments get lost

tastes and views reposition

tradition is traded

learning is unlearned

not replaced

but

misplaced

a sign

of senescenc

for one

and 

idiocracy for the culture

and all its subcultures

ahmet cafer celebiler

August 5. 2025

REGRETS, FORGETS AND MINISCULE EXPECTATIONS

 

ENTRENCHED VERSES VERSUS FLEETING GESTURES

restlessness of unsaturated love

a phrase

meaningless 

except to a twenty year old

concocted 

in 1963

carried to now

to sell

self

and other

unquotable thoughts

and

emotions

for acceptance

of intellect

and achievements

unfamiliar

not at all attractive

as sign of ability

not worthy of surpise

some resentment value

discardable 

overused instinctual 

faded glamour

an expression 

on a third century statue

from a long deserted

necropolis

So shall one become

at a later age

not statuesque 

no smile

 a grimace

as evidence

of 

 later ages

when possible

ahmet cafer celebiler

August 3, 2025

A SINCERE APOLOGY

 

MY BAD!

I admit that i very seldom proofread what i have written or ask those family members who were forced to read until very recently. even during the years they were under duress, they seldom pointed out spelling  and definitely no logical or grammatical errors or warned me that what i wrote would make more sense if i used some different words and in different ways.

In that way, I must admit that they are either respectfull or ignorant or they could not care less, or all three and more. It is not a thing with them or for them, just as acknowleding that I thought I was a philosopher or poet or an amateur social scientist who somehow managed to earn enough to afford their education in private schools in Turkiye and universities in the United states in their chosen careers. 

I shall have to be satisfied with my readers correcting my spelling and grammatical mistakes as they read and think that they are proof that they are dealing with a real person and not an AI.

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 31, 2025

MISTREATED ENTITIES OF THE PAST

 

ANGER,  ANTIPATHY, SENSELESS VIOLENT BEHAVIOUR 

these are all too common

to the human species

according to

laymen

unacademic students

of human actions

writers

speakers

family

and

friends

lawmen

and

lawless

men and women

living unaware lives

not ever

seeing

or feeling

ghosts

of their subjects

haunting them

with 

unexpected

sudden

temporary

twitches

itches

skin bumps

cold

and hot

flashes

not at all menapausal

heart murmurs

unrelated to lost testosterone

and

dreams

of

lost opportunities

for joy and happiness

The subjest of these actions

other humans

insects

abandoned shelters

pets

fish

molluscs

moths

even butterflies

winged

and

with many legs

antennae

that feel

all that they feel

with

stoic thoughts

as an incident of their lives

till they decide

to haunt

us

the perpetrators

Ahmet cafer Celebiler

June 31, 2025

IS AMERICA LEAKING

 

MOST MICE DO NOT KNOW ENOUGH TO LEAVE A SINKING SHIP

Developing nations, send out their young and ambitious and hopefull to developed nations. Mostly to get one or more university degrees. But, quite a few professionals, academics, and scientists go also to escape the dictatorial domestic justice system, lack of justice, official resentment against qualified, intelligent, rational  and successfull individuals, and, to have a chance for recognition, research and higher earning potential.

Currently, some are noticing an increasing trend of an exodus of academics and cultural elites from the United States. Interestingly enough, although America is believed to be the land of opportunity, the reasons why some Americans are leaving are quite similar to those of the alienated from developing nations. Can this cause drastic financial, fiscal, economic, scientific, academic, research related problems in America?

(the following was my answer to a related question on the internet)

I do not see an urgent problem. however, it is not an issue to be ignored.America will have enough elites and academics to keep thinkers, readers, students and the curious at well above critical levels despite the not so strange attempts of a group of political and economic power holders who do not wish to realize that their presence and power in America actually depends on those and earlier elites and academics. None of this has anything to do with existence or future of democracy. But a great deal to do with empathy, compassion, mindfullness, mental development, child rearing, diets and international relations, all of which have suffered at the hands of the same elites and even some of the same academics since the beginning of the 19th Century despite the attempts of a handful of thinkers, writers, social scientists and philosophers.

Citizens who vocalize and engage the issue, do it for their personal beliefs and needs and not for the good of all or the development and success of an American political system which is mistakenly self-identified as ‘democracy.’

America always had elites and academics disappointed with the system and life and beliefs prevalent among the governing and the governed. Some of these thinkers, artists, writers, musicians. scientists would leave as they do today but they were usually replaced by new generations, albeit still only a handfull. American universities and the collected wealth of knowledge and thought somehow brings up good stuff in some of each new generation, although some types of knowledge and thought get laid by the wayside or change in ways saddening to codgers like me.

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 29, 2025

 

LEANING TOWARDS THE END

 

MR SOMEONE THINKS OF CABBAGES AND NOT CANNABIS

Animals, pets, children and spouses can sense the approaching demise of their Mr. Someone. When they do, it is a time of rationalization, stoicism, acceptance and reduced interest in the subject. Mr. Someone  becomes hazy and somewhat far away from sight and thought. A lower priority dimness.

He is always there. he does what he does everyday. nothing new. He does not talk of his health and well-being. Just says, "Fine." If someone should, for any reason, ask him his thoughts on any subject, he would probably respond, 'it is complicated" or "maybe" or "how terrible and senseless" and would stop there, leaving the elaboration to others. 

He does not like to listen much or converse. Looks at people and checks his meds at the dinner table.

He remembers a few acquaintances in Iznik, a grain wholesaler, an illiterate greengrocer, a very literate pharmacist, owner of a medium sized dime store, a dry goods store owner who supplied once a month a gypsy clan and a newpaper and magazine shop owner who sold lottery tickets, who had become a candidate for district mayor and lost. Some of them passed away and some just disappeared from his life. With visits to iznik becoming more difficult because of Summer heat, occupation of the house by children and grandchildren, and the schedule of the spouse, he also denied himself the physical therapy/massage by a friendly Russian lady married to a friendly Turkish odd-job man, and the emotional therapy of the three cats who never became picky with their affections towards me like humans. Occasionally, he worries about them but knows deep down that they will not be upset or too disappointed with his long absences.

He has stored his medals, cups, plaques of recognition and thanks, together with his favorite charms, which, he knows, never charmed anyone but himself when they were placed on the PC stand.

He still tries to find and concoct  new recipes for his meals, using exotic and standard herbs and spices which may not alway be good for his digestion, promising that he will soon lose some weight and the obese look he detests, but not so much. 

He buys online pajamas, underwear, comfortable lounge pants and shorts and V-neck and polo t-shirts, mostly orange, shades of green and blue, as well as supplements, shaving and hair cutting gear (for his new grown miraculous hair that almost covers all of the bald skull since December 2024)

Plays games against the computer and writes with a similar speed and ambition. 

His eyes get glassy, his mind becomes confused, and his head turns now and then, while his joints and legs try to tell him things he does not wish to hear but knows he must accept.

His family has been preparing for the soon to come day when he disappears, by nicely (they believe) ignoring him  and assuming his feelings and thoughts in a pleasant way. He doubts that not even his collections, books, poems, trophies, toys, charms and board games will miss him for long.

Ahmet cafer celebiler

July 26, 2025

MEMORABILIA

 

OPENING DERELICT BOXES

when life

as lived

was short

and horizons 

were far

one puts away memories

and

memorabilia

to laugh

to relive

not so far away

just  a few steps 

and a tiptoe reach

sad ones already discarded

decades gone by

boxes 

and contents

get unboxed

one hot day

in Summer of 

eighty first year

newspaper headlined faces 

in crowds of protester

entitled names among

members

attendees

speakers

mediators

other holders

of names

now 

almost

nameless

prescriptions 

from 1945 and 46 

somehow 

insinuated

their not so legible

presence 

into the box

of 

vagrant 

remembrances

without cause to remember

all very dusty

tattered

puerile

good for a fine sneeze

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 24, 2025

PERSONALITY STORAGE

 

SECRET STORAGE OF IDENTITIES

i keep notions

and

feelings

of

images

recollections

people i have met

beautiful people

all very human

they stay at the age I met

and stored

i age

they stay the same

for me

to reminisce 

and remove from the depths

as visions

as fading pictures

seldom within a landscape 

but

always a background

of emotion 

of appreciation

and delight

ephemerally avoiding droughts

i think

i should thank them 

and not forget

even the nameless

before i join them

in their storage

any storage

of people

humans 

who may not even have met me

IT IS GOOD TO KNOW YOU

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 22, 2025

WHAT WE WERE TAUGHT WHEN CHILDREN

 

TALES OF FOLKS AND FAIRIES AND THEIR MORALS

there are good and bad

kings, queens

animals

pets

step mothers sisters 

and other

petty persons

many tricksters

as dwarfs

witches

and wise men

and cats who wear boots

irish and continental

also

japanese

involved with poisons

and swords and bells

and birds

and caves responding to sesame

megalomaniacs

and giants

mythical

and commercial

hoarders

and consumers of flesh 

and freedoms

telling

and reminding

children and not children

of dangers

risks

hazards and perils

of the known

and the unknown

in so many copies

of just a few books 

pored over

by minds

conditioned

to soaking them up

only to spit at others

with or without meaning

preparing children

and grown ups

and their thoughts

and minds

for later days

still

without rhyme or reason

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 21, 2025

POWER OF HOPE AND DESIRE

 

WISHING FOR WISHES TO COME THROUGH

i am past 80

eser is almost 70

she is young

so am I

her specialties are babies and children

and also

healing

my interests are nonsense and logic

and also 

'why not?'

we tried

good wishes

and good things

leaving abundant

hope and desire 

to be fulfilled 

by other time crystals

not of our ken or kin

knowing

that

we will ever be young

to each other

and all

who see us 

as we are 

and saw us

as we were

she feels people

i feel mysteries

and 

we

 meet

people with mysteries

forgetting

our anxieties

still

despairing

for humanity

and 

cheering

the search

of Monsieur Sylvestre

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 19,2025

CALL FOR STRUCTURING

 

REARRANGEMENT GONE AWRRY

there was a convocation

for 

a convention

resulting in

a magisterium

to reside

in one body

but 

pieces were missing

of thoughts

of

implements

of

vocabulary

and 

too many bits

 and even chunks

to fill in the gaps

completion was considered

with no consensus 

postponement 

was the final word

it was decided to 

convene at another

curvature of time and space

dependent on a mystical

or 

an uncertainly calculable

birth 

or

creation

of new beings

on a new landhold

with a different

mindhold

worthy

to fathom

examine

complete

and

indulge

ahmet cafer celebiler

July, 19, 2025

 

WORSHIPPERS  ON PARCHMENT AND STONE

CALLING FROM MINARETS AND BELFRY

belief is assumed

when 

the called one

is divine even

a trickster

following

songs

chants and

knells

glockenspiel

chimes 

gongs

or 

flute of a shepard

jarring awake

or

calling sleep

and sheep

exotic

esoteric

or

at times 

inscrutably erotic

serve

purposes

also

exotic

and esoteric

parts and portions

of mysteries

subject

of

cabals and covens

that 

may not be disclosed

except

by

ahmet celebiler

July 17, 2025

DIVERGING FROM ASKLEPIOS

 

RECOGNIZING THE CENTURY OF MEDICINE MEN

lucian knew

only one 

upstart

or start up

those thousands of years ago

when he 

wrote 

what he wrote

about alexander

the world knew

but

did not divulge

others

who followed glycon

all medicine men

in their own right

albeit with no degree

for many millenia

Our culture

beset by

our beliefs

in 

miracles

of technology

reared

the new breed

of

healers

and

good witches

warlocks

with university degrees

and

framed certificates

and

more importantly

machines

that light up

and machines

that go beep

subject to Hygieia

performing

performing

duties

of

Iaso

and panacea

and aceso

many miracles

not recorded

but

desired

wished

words of mouths

gnats living on

wishful thoughts

and dreams 

survivors

of hard times

and connivers 

of culpability

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 15, 2025

SLIDE PRESENTATIONS

 

A JOINT HISTORIC PROJECT TO BE SHARED

www.youtube.com/@esercelebiler

photographs mostly by Eser

words by Ahmet

music chosen mostly by Ahmet

PRENUPS, TRADE TREATIES, ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

 

COMMON LAW VS CIVIL LAW

deeper down

both mean the same

laws apply

to the common man

and civilians

or the weaker side

or group

or partner

or nation

even

in international organizations

and families

aristocratic

royal

and 

wealthy or destitute

trade treaties

international

and commercial

are like

prenups

until 

the promise

vaporizes

and the assets

if any 

are up for grabs

subject to

trust and trusts

glass ceilings

stockholm syndromes

Sigmund Freud and Nicola Machiavelli

even when

real princes do not exist

in the world

structured by power

and selfishness

and greed

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 10, 2025

ME - ISM AND WE - ISM

 

CONFUSING INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP IDENTITY

i like this

we hate them

subjects

and objects

interchangeable

replaceable

contingent

racist or nationalistic

DNA tested 

and

ancestor guessed it

royally individual

never really plural

self knighted

rooked

with queens

imaginary

hoped for

by all the kings

as leaders

supposed spouses

spaces apart

contemporaneous

possibly 

simultaneous

anthropologically

possible

fictionally forgotten

subliminally apparent

sometimes scanned

other times

just propagandized

ever

singular and

first party plural

and subject

to Weber's law

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 7, 2025

YOUNG MEN'S INAPPROPRIATE SYMPTOMS

 

SECRET SINUS TACHICARDIA

juvenile males

experience

palpitations

dyspnea

dysphagia

drooling

dysautonomia

exophtalmos

more than they admit

in times of real

or imagined 

imminent sex

mature males

and

all females

are asymptomatic

as far as

spectators discern

except on visual media

AI

or

 professional crew

produced

calluses

of delicate senses

and walls

of indelicate passions

built over time

disrupt rays

and auras

and feelings 

gathering all

in 

murky depths

of the psyche

eminent physicians

comparing notes

argue to this day

if invasive

or noninvasive

techniques

are best suited

to cure these conditions

vying 

with shamans

witches

homeopaths

and

psychical 

and

physical

chiropractors

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 7, 2025

THOUGHT OF A DEPRESSIVE VIRUS ON A VIRAL SLIDE

PESSIMISM RULES THE DAY

(may be related to the news of demise of another classmate or millions of plant and animal lives lost in forest fires) 

 We are dupes.   Countries, governed by parliaments, senates, congresses, presidents, prime ministers, kings, dictators, chiefs, headmen and such are not ruled by people who do things out of the goodness of their hearts. they receive compensation as money, as status, as luxuries, as applause, as exceptional service for their families, a better grave or urn and the possibility of a few immemorable words on paper, stone, marble or screen.  They are accountable not to the public, not to inhabitants who voted for them and who support them, but to a small group of natives and foreigners who can play on their strings through money, gold, threats, blackmail, false promises and the ability to dupe them.

We have unknowingly and ignorantly, as a result of millenia of unjust, unfair life on this globe, signed a social contract with those earthly powers upon birth and were assigned and  reassigned roles at various points of our lives through the systems, cogs, wheels and whirligigs of education, careers, social, economic and political institutions.

We fight each other for the morsels thrown at us because we have no means to fight social contracts with impunity.

ahmet celebiler

July 5, 2025

TIME IS CONSTANT

 

DYSTOPIA BEGAN WITH LIFE

the first ever kvetch

was the autochtonic owner 

of an ingrown toe nail

not subject

to pity

or empathy

unaware of

auras negative

or 

perspectives furtive

secreted

in a cave 

self made

owner

and

distributor of 

moans common

grumbles human

not discerned 

by pets and peeves

even at a pity party

present 

and

indigenous

in and 

out of

black holes 

of minds

and thoughts

single

and 

plural

ahmet cafer celebiler

July 3, 2025

SIGNIFICANCE

 

BELIEVING IN YOUR IMPORTANCE

This requires no third party assessment or declaration. But, there are some signs and instruments and procedures one may apply to create, invent, discover and feed faith in your significance as well as balms, charms, meditations and incantations.The trick is to first disown hubris, doubt and bravado and remove influencers like family and friends from your inner self to where they belong, outside yourself.

You may replace them with small figurines, statuettes and hazy memories of gods, cartoon caracters and pets who have no intention or desire to be real even when they are solidly sitting with you, in front of your PC, or making noise in your sojourn now and before.

Then, divide your time into little pieces, all with images you enjoy, yourself, trees, seas, mountains, waterfalls, cats and tasty edibles. What you will have will not be a puzzle that can be brought together for anything that resembles a puzzle. It will be an existential cacophony that controls life on your planet and locations thereof.

Ahmet Cafer Celebiler

June 16, 2025

LIFE OF AN AMPERSAND

MARKS MENTIONS & MARIONETTES 

an ampersand is not a puppet

even with strings

resembling 

a figure sitting

a wooden puppet

does not get a mention

honorable

or not

even with speech

a politician 

a living puppet

of its own beliefs

and 

those of many right hands

in pockets

their own 

and others

a mark

chalk him up

on a tally

on a banana boat

or an ark

and keep him there

in case he 

muddies 

the waters of mars

let him stay

just a connection

not connecting

love

or mercy

or science 

or philosophy

loosely bound

to 

other 

mannikins

ahmet cafer celebiler

June 14, 2025

OUR PREPOSTEROUS MOON

 

FOR THE MOON CHILD

i watch you mature

even in miniature

in spaces far

amidst clouds near

driving a biga

invisible

today

to all 

as luna

not selene

but as khonan

on currents of air

to meet thoth

in a game of senet

not as a pawn

but

as my queen

Ahmet Cafer Celebiler

June 11, 2025

BORROWED MYTHOPIA

 

WELTANSCHAUUNG

FOR REPTILES OF THE MIND

rules of

life

and

purpose

joy and delight

for them

who see green

and

not the tree

and 

delve

on 

shades of green

know their skin

scales

and

standing water 

even when not green

drinking the water

and  

feasting on all else

not feeling

Weltschmerz

ahmet cafer celebiler

June 6, 2025

Note: RECONSTRUCTED AND DECONSTRUCTED 

FROM JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE AND WILLIAM BLAKE

MATCHMAKING WITH STRAWS

 

PAIRING OF FIGURES AND CHARACTERS

this is a task

obvious

or masked

an ancient algorithm

without

propensity scoring

and 

estimated probabilities

as well as

neighbour matching

caliper matching

balance checks

and variable comparisons

in our case

it was fancy

esthetics

symmetry

and 

a time of comets

planet conjunctions

climate change

acting in act three

of a play of multiple acts

simulating

assimilated emotions

actions 

of

the currently fashionable decorum

an irrational ceremony

with rational covariates

Eser and Ahmet Celebiler

June 3, 2025

WAITING

 

WAITING FOR PEOPLE AND THINGS

used to wait

for toys

and new clothes

shoes to sleep with

in case they do not survive the first night

toys

books

father

and other friends

needing feeling needed

now

it is gargantua and pentagruel

offspring of 

le grandgousier

chaucers pilgrims

at canterbury and elsewhere

and

people of boccaccio

desperate and joyous

even gorgons

my muses

while grounded

a peripheral ganglion

a household gargoyle

on guard duty

to ward of harmful spirits

reigning over the agora

of offspring 

children and 

one playfull 

biting

pet 

in a safe home

free from

the grande guignol

of these years

ahmet cafer celebiler

May 28, 2025

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

 

INCLUDING PLAGIARIZED PASSAGES    

i admit at the age of 81 that possibly, possibly unintentionally and unknowingly, unawares, i have imitated

John Collier whose stories I read and enjoyed when i was 18,

 Edgar Allan poe, whose works i read in my adolescensce for myself and loudly (his poetry) for all family members who could not escape, made dumb connections between the Bells and Annabellee, and wished for a personal Lenore and a raven as a pet;

felt for Alfred j. Prufrock from a distance far and tried to name my environment the Waste land, and rename cats I met, (but not the friendly ones,) 

Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, Edward lear, Jonathan swift, Lewis Carroll all of whom pointed me in the direction of Jean Paul Sartre, Ionesco, Pinter and other pataphysicists,

Too many poets, English, Irish, American; some of whom were employed in insurance like me;

And armies of nameless ants, spiders and scorpions and their human counterparts i have met and loved.

T'is vainglory

shining upon me 

Thanks once more for accepting me

Ahmet cafer Celebiler

(Otherchelebi)

Sunday (Midnight but not dreary) May, 25, 2025

MESSAGE FROM BEYOND BY SIR TERRY PRATCHETT

HABITS ARE TAILORED

on the disk

or the globe 

by imps

resident

and

illegally present

from cloth

of experience dreamt

of words sermonized

of events memorized

vain in their futility

incapable of dealing 

with life as lived

and

to be lived

apropos of

random ransom

and

wampum 

not at all shared

ahmet cafer celebiler

May 25, 2025

ACQUAINTANCE

 

REAL AND NOT SO REAL PEOPLE

when drawn

and identified

and

portrayed 

in a box

or frame

or spelled right

dangled by unvisible ropes

on pages 

or parchments

as scrolls

and

those

against

a backdrop

of buildings

and mountains

and water or trees

or school yards

or rooms bureaucratic

and 

appointed or proclaimed

in memories

on pedestals crumbling

in niches invisible

the unreal

obscure the real

as 

the mind and the person

gloom

elsewhere

for the real 

school taught

elder taught

state taught

eternal

simple dimension 

ahmet cafer celebiler

May23, 2025

SEARCH FOR A MATE

 

HOW TO IDENTIFY A MATE

soul mates

or brain mates

sometimes

also

esthetic

or play mates

choosing one

implies availability

and alternatives

investigation

full application 

of all senses

and understanding

self

and other selves

finite games

and their rules

literary and fictional

or documentary

and

archival

awareness

of a sentinel

it can be swift

or

time consuming

effortless

or

requiring dedication

emotionless

totally hormonal

or mental logical

temporary

or

timeless

at least for one 

if not both

delusional

(psychotic)

or illusional

(misinterpreted)

full of hope

and wishful dreams

or tied by life strings

to a concrete block

No matter how and why

the process

anxious

or

joyfull

recommended

both

by writers romantic

and

readers realistic

is 

the foremost

survival trait

ahmet cafer celebiler

May 18, 2025

 

ABILITY TO ESCAPE

 

ESCAPING FROM  ILLUSION

freedom is an illusion

social

political

optical

emotional

anthropological

and

logical

antediluvian thought

philosophy

and

belief

resurfaced in ice ages

and in rain forests

and pyramids

and gained way

with sacrifice

of life

of future

of reason

and

of humanity

finding solace

in faith

in love 

in philosophy

all fictional

and aetherial

falsely ethical

in sects

and cults

seemingly electoral

thought political

rarely beneficial for more than one

or a few

maybe five

or even more

in a good year

but 

without a future

foreseen

with

astragalomancy

as written

and pictured

in beginners guides

to 

osteomancy

in China

Mongolia

South Africa

Romania

and 

everywhere

ahmet cafe celebiler

May 17, 2025

ODOR OF COMPASSION

 

SCENTS AND STINKS

a parent

who parents

a spouse

who spouses

a child

who needs

as individuals

and groups 

adore 

odors

personal

and

private 

secret

and confidential

inexplicable

and 

so delectable

oh so memorable

and

irreplaceable

ahmet cafer celebiler

May 16, 2025

SKULL WITH NO HOLES

 

KRANION WITHOUT ENKEPHALOS

holes may be blocked

snut

earwax

cataracts

real

and

imaginary

newly acquired

or

hereditary

circumstantial

conspitarorial

or 

collateral accidental

incoming filtered

and

output 

not noted

not expected

hope inapplicable

the theoroi 

at observatories primitive

as neolithic

as humans can be

today

and yesterday

ahmet cafer celebiler

May 15, 2025

DIVINATIONS ANOINTMENTS AND CHANTS

 

LIVING CHARMS

amulets are hung

over thresholds

swan like necks

rear view mirrors

haruspicy 

and

bones and beans 

and dice

and the cards

of madams called sosostris

or others

receive messages

and 

ordain auras 

to unfold

future and ancient

lives and fates

not named

clotho 

lachesis

or atropos

And

we

amidst

all alchemy 

and enchantment

unawares

pass our days

with inhuman illogic

and

all human rules and laws

thinking

and

feeling

occasional love

and

frequent hate

ahmet cafer celebiler

May 10, 2025

PROMISES PROMISES

 

A LIFE LESSON LEARNED EARLY

the infant does not hear promises

yet 

when breasts and milk bottles

are close

there is expectation

as

the touch of a blanket

and

smell of sympathy

join 

a nursery rhyme

one gets early esperience

of unspoken promises

there may be lies

and 

subterfuge

even at these times

to lay 

the foundations

of recognizing 

identifying

meanings 

and 

feelings of truth

and

empty promises

promises are made

with

or without

intentions deep

to keep

for a day

or a week

children learn

what

and which

and how

promises 

are promised 

during

years of growth

but

the adult

at age ten

or many decades more

may still hope

and fall

for love

for greed

for faith

tackling self

and others

in the process

of promises

mankind

will wake up

at one stage

to offers

and promises 

of elysian fields

to everyone

heroes

in their own way

and

reach out

to pluck 

their own apples

otherchelebi

May 7. 2025